Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

World Bank | Trade and Development Chart: The Rise in Trade Policy Fragmentation

Blog | Data show that countries are increasingly applying different import tariffs to different trading partners for the same product. Click here to access the interactive chart Since the WTO was established in 1995, no new multilateral trade agreement has been reached on import tariffs. Instead, we see a rise in trade policy fragmentation. This is reflected in the chart, where the downward-sloping lines show that non-discriminatory, or Most Favored Nation, tariffs explain a declining share of tariff variation. In other words, countries...

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Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

European Council | Suspension of Customs Tariffs on Certain Fertilisers for One Year

The Council decided today to suspend for one year customs tariffs on key nitrogen-based fertilisers used in agricultural production in the EU, including fertiliser inputs such as urea and ammonia. The measure aims to lower costs for EU farmers and fertiliser industry – saving them an estimated €60 million in import duties, according to the European Commission. It will also reduce the EU's dependency on Russia and Belarus for fertiliser products and help build a more diversified trading network in this area. "Today’s...

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Member News, News

PwC | OECD Attempts to Address Global Minimum Tax Compliance Concerns in Advance of Filing and Exchange Deadlines

In brief What happened? On 18 May 2026 the OECD released a ‘common understanding’ of jurisdictions that implemented a QIIR and/or QDMTT for the 2024 reporting fiscal year, aiming to mitigate the impact of potential delays in the availability of fully operational GloBE Information Return (GIR) filing portals or exchange relationships for the Global Minimum Tax. Separately, the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS released agreed administrative guidance on the transitional UTPR safe harbour for certain 52/53-week fiscal year multinational enterprise (MNE)...

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Member News, News

Troutman Pepper Locke | Investing in All of America Act Expands SBIC Leverage, Bonus Incentives, and Investor Base

Key Points The Investing in All of America Act of 2025 (the Act) increases standard debenture Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) base leverage caps to $250 million per fund and $475 million per family of funds. The Act expands SBIC bonus leverage by allowing a dollar-for-dollar exclusion for a broader set of qualifying investments, including rural small businesses, critical technologies, small manufacturers, and low-income areas, up to the lesser of 50% of private capital or $125 million. The Act...

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Member News, News

Fox Rothschild | The Fed Just Proposed a Fast Track for Fintechs to Access its Payment System

The proposal would allow fintechs, stablecoin issuers and other non-bank institutions to clear and settle payments directly through the Federal Reserve. Key Points Federal Reserve Payment Account proposal: fast-track access for fintechs, stablecoin issuers and nonbanks to Fedwire, FedNow, and NSS for direct clearing and settlement without banks. “Skinny” account design: no FedACH, no discount window, no interest; balance caps up to $1B; ~90‑day review timeline; reduced reliance on correspondent banking. Regulatory impact: BSA/AML and OFAC oversight, stablecoin reserve use, tokenized asset settlement,...

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Member News, News

AlixPartners | The Three AdTech Growth Shifts that Matter in 2026

AI’s overhaul of the tech industry will leave no stone unturned, and the AdTech sector is feeling the effects. AI, connected TV (CTV), and privacy-safe open-web buying are now table stakes, not differentiators. But as they converge within the advertising ecosystem, not every company is utilizing these tools to drive actual value. According to our analysis, nearly one in three U.S. digital ad dollars will go to CTV and premium online video this year, an increase from 27% in 2025 (per...

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Member News, News

Osborne Clarke | EU Inc: Commission Proposes Single Company Structure for all 27 Member States

The ambition is undeniable, but will the final rules live up to it? Europe has the talent but it lacks the framework. The Draghi and Letta reports, two of the most influential diagnoses of European competitiveness in recent years, identified the issue. So did Atomico's State of European Tech 2025 report: regulatory fragmentation acts as an invisible tariff on growth. A founder in California incorporates once and operates across a market of 340 million people. A founder in Barcelona, Warsaw...

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Chapter News, News

OECD | GDP growth in the OECD Area Picks up Moderately in the First Quarter of 2026

Corrigendum: In the OECD GDP release published on 21 May 2026, the quarter-on-quarter growth for Italy in the first quarter of 2026 is 0.2%, and not 0.1% as initially published in the last sentence of the second paragraph. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth in the OECD area increased slightly to 0.4% in Q1 2026, up from 0.2% in the previous quarter, according to provisional estimates (Figure 1). This reflects a mixed picture across the 28 OECD countries for which data was...

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Member News, News

CMS | EU AI Act Developments: Key Political Agreement on the Digital Omnibus on AI, Implementation Timeline and Transparency Consultation

On 8 May 2026, the EU Commission opened its consultation on the draft guidelines on AI transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act, providing practical guidance to help authorities, providers, and deployers of AI systems to comply with their relevant obligations in a consistent, effective, and uniform way. The consultation period will run until 3 June 2026. Parliament is expected to vote on the final text by 7 July 2026. The Commission’s decision came a day after the Council...

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Chapter News, News

IMF | Responding to the Energy and Food Price Shock: Getting the Policy Details Right

Blog | Governments can protect vulnerable households, keep businesses open, and preserve price signals without straining public finances. When global energy prices spike, governments face an unenviable dilemma: shield people and businesses while straining already reduced room in public budgets—or let prices rise for everyone and risk social and political backlash. So, how can policymakers do the best of both? To be sure, there is no one-size-fits-all response because the impact of the war in the Middle East differs widely across...

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